Denise Richards says she hid Charlie Sheen's 'outrageously bad' scandals from daughters to 'protect him'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Denise Richards opened up about shielding her daughters from their father Charlie Sheen’s turbulent public life.

She revealed that she repeatedly lied to protect them from the impact of his scandals while they were growing up while also helping to protect his image from his children.

Denise Richards admits lying to daughters about Charlie Sheen’s behavior

Denise Richards said she often told her daughters, Sami and Lola, that their father was working, even when he was facing serious issues.

“If I was at a school performance, and he was supposed to show up, and I get a call, ‘Something happened sideways, hospital, whatever,’ I’m not going to tell the kids the truth,” Richards said during her appearance on the 'Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson' podcast.

She added. “I lied, and I said, dad had to work.” Richards admitted she protected Sheen despite his behavior. 

“Some of the things were so outrageously bad where I’m like, I can’t say that,” Richards said. “So I did lie, and I sugar-coated, and I protected him.”

Richards shares daughters Sami, 21, and Lola, 19, with Sheen, whom she divorced in 2006.

She said their daughters have started confronting her about hiding the truth.

“I actually sheltered the kids almost to a point where, now as they’re getting older, they’re discovering things,” Richards said. “And they were at first getting upset with me, like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me this?’” Page Six reported.

Denise Richards recalls Charlie Sheen calling daughters from jail on Christmas

Denise Richards spoke about a particular moment from Christmas 2009 when Charlie Sheen called their daughters from jail after an incident involving his then-wife, Brooke Mueller.

“I didn’t say, ‘Your dad just got f*****g arrested, and he’s in jail so come say ‘Merry Christmas’ right now,’” said Richards, adding that the girls “were busy playing with their toys.”

“They’re like, ‘We’ll talk to Dad later,’” she recalled. “I go, ‘I think Dad’s gonna be a little busy later.’”

She also recalled the difficulty she had in explaining Sheen’s HIV diagnosis to their children after his surprise public disclosure in 2015.

“I think I picked them up early from school that day because I didn’t want kids at school to tell them,” Richards said during the March 31 episode of the 'Whine Down' podcast. She noted that the news was “everywhere.”

Charlie Sheen's daughters open up about their bond with father 

Even now, Charlie Sheen’s past continues to affect his relationships with his daughters. In a recent podcast, Sami shared her view on the situation.

“I would rather do literally anything else than go to lunch with my father,” she said during the April 1 episode of 'Denise Richards & Her Wild Things'.

“It goes in very big chunks with him. I think for the first 13 years of my life it was pretty bad, and then we were OK for a couple years, and now it’s just like, OK,” she said.

Lola, on the other hand, has a different experience with their father. “My life is way more enjoyable when [my dad and I] have a relationship because if not, it’s like, I hate having that feeling of not talking,” said Lola Sheen to Us Weekly in March.

“Obviously, we go through ups and downs sometimes, but our relationship is good," she said.

Richards, who adopted daughter Eloise, now 13, as a single mother, is currently married to Aaron Phypers.